


Everglow (They'll Never Know)

by Jessvampangel



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AND FIVE, Five Hargreeves is a brat, Five's tracking down the agents of the commission, I think Five is pretty in character though n g l, I'm not as funny as Klaus and it shows, Klaus and Ben are badass, M/M, POV Diego, Post-Apocalypse, Slow Build, Slow Dancing, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Songfic, Though it doesn't really fit the story I just think the lyrics are pretty, but he can't go everywhere cause he's like 12, but he's their brat, i guess?, no sex sorry, nothing here but soft boys, so he brings his dads along, so is Diego
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessvampangel/pseuds/Jessvampangel
Summary: Five raised the bottle to his lips but Klaus had grabbed it before a drop of liquid could leave. For a second Diego was worried that Klaus was going to drink from it himself, but instead he smashed the bottle on the counter and they all watched as the liquid dripped down onto the floor. Five sighed grumpily. “There was a time when you would have gotten onto your hands and knees to catch some of that, you know.”“Still might, don’t test me,” Klaus dropped himself unceremoniously onto one of the seats, dressing gown billowing around him. The tie he’d used was starting to look quite loose, and Diego told himself not to bring it up. “I don’t see what this has to do with us.”“So,” Five continued, eyes practically gleaming as he unzipped the jacket he’d been wearing to reveal possibly the worse shirt Diego had seen in his entire life. It was white, with the only decal being the massive (he means massive, so in your face it’s obtuse), rainbow, sparkly ‘I LOVE MY GAY DADS’ in all capitals across the front. It was the kind of shirt he otherwise couldn’t wrestle Five into, even on a good day, and he wanted to throw up. “Guess who’s making a comeback!”





	Everglow (They'll Never Know)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song ‘Everglow’ by Starset, as are all the section titles in this story. It’s a beautiful song – it doesn’t fit the plot of this story, but it portrays the way Diego feels pretty accurately.

_**1.** _ **_You come in waves_**

**_Till you’re all I know_ **

 

“Heads up! I have a job for you boys.”

Diego glanced upwards from his position lying on the sofa in the living room. Things had actually been quite peaceful up until that point – as peaceful as they can be when Klaus is involved. Diego had had a nightmare, the kind that left him restless in his bed and uncomfortable in his skin. He presumed, upon finding Klaus playing the piano downstairs (he hadn’t known Klaus was learning, but he was always glad to see him engaged in something non–intoxicating), that Klaus was there for the same reason. He’d wandered over to the coffee machine, brewed himself a cup and laid back on the sofa, passing a knife between his fingers. They’d been like that for nearly an hour, nothing but the tinkling of the piano and the rain hitting the windows, before Five made himself known.

The boy (man, man–child, whatever) came skirting down the banister with excitement that Diego rarely saw on him. He watched apprehensively as Klaus stopped playing, the air falling silent. Five glanced between them, an unplaceable expression on his face, before he shrugged and made his way over to the liquor cabinet.

“Last time I took a job from you, I wound up with glass shards in my hair and no extra money in my pocket,” Klaus had turned to face the both of them with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t dressed, sat only in a red dressing grown that looked like it could have previously belonged to Reginald, and for his crossed legs Diego was thankful.

“Let bygones be bygones,” Five chirped happily, hand glazing over several of the bottles before he found one to his liking and grabbed it from the shelf. He swung his legs around the bar and sat with them dangling, offering a wide smile that promised nothing good. “This isn’t about me, anyway. A few agents from the Commission are planning to kill a well-known CEO today at his daughter’s birthday party. I need to stop them.”

Five had been somewhat lost after he’d stopped the apocalypse. All of them had known it, although Allison had only asked about it once before they all hesitated to raise the issue again. He’d been intolerable for weeks, irritable and always mumbling about equations and probabilities, before finally he gained a perk in his step and that creepy smile. He’d found his purpose, again, in his mission to take down the entirety of the Commission – to put an end to the ceaseless control of the timeline, and the needless killing of people in its name. Diego found that somewhat hypocritical, but he didn’t bring it up.

“What’s that got to do with us?” Diego asked, raising into a sitting position. He kept the knife in the palm of his hand, though, just in case. Klaus had moved around to the seating area and was now hanging around the bar, watching Five with a curious expression.

“I’ve organised some… chance meetings with his daughter, and we now get along quite well.” Five smirked, unscrewing the cork on the bottle, swinging his legs with barely contained glee. “I’ve been invited to said birthday party, but obviously I’m not expected to show up on my own. Mark – that’s the CEO – would quite like to meet my parents.”

He raised the bottle to his lips but Klaus had grabbed it from him before a drop of liquid could leave. For a second Diego was worried that Klaus was going to drink from it himself, but instead he smashed the bottle on the counter and they all watched as the liquid dripped down onto the floor. Five sighed grumpily. “There was a time when you would have gotten onto your hands and knees to catch some of that, you know.”

“Still might, don’t test me,” Klaus dropped himself unceremoniously onto one of the seats, dressing gown billowing around him. The tie he’d used was starting to look quite loose, and Diego told himself not to bring it up. “I don’t see what this has to do with us.”

“ _So,_ ” Five continued, eyes practically gleaming as he unzipped the jacket he’d been wearing (Diego didn’t know where he’d gotten it from – he’d only started wearing clothes other than the academy uniform recently, and it was actually weird to see them on him) to reveal possibly the worse shirt Diego had seen in his entire life. It was white, with the only decal being the massive (he means _massive,_ so in your face it’s obtuse), rainbow, _sparkly_ ‘I LOVE MY GAY DADS’ in all capitals across the front. It was the kind of shirt he otherwise couldn’t wrestle Five into, even on a good day, and he wanted to throw up. “Guess who’s making a comeback!”

 

* * *

 

Klaus had been given a makeover, making jabs at Five the entire time (“Why, this is making me teary eyed. I’m feeling so nostalgic!”, “Ouch! Careful there, not much room in that area if you know what I mean”) but when Five had descended on Diego he’d given the boy a look that made him think twice.

“You can’t go dressed like that,” Five stated factually, arms crossed as he stood Diego down. “It’s a CEO’s little girl’s birthday party, if you go in with knives strapped to your chest you’ll be tackled in like, ten seconds.”

“I’ll wear something from my own wardrobe then. I can dress down.” Diego crossed his own arms in return. Klaus was busy playing with th bracelet Five had given him, paying them no mind whatsoever. “And I’m still taking the knives with me.”

Five’s eyes glinted with something dangerous. “Never said you couldn’t.”

Diego had driven them to the party, Klaus restless in the back as Five had taken shotgun, no questions asked. Diego did his best to concentrate with Klaus practically vibrating in his backseat as Five gave them the rundown, looking the picture of comfort.

“The agents aren’t the best, but they were in the agency when I was so they know how this shit works. I’m going to make myself scarce after the starter, and you guys don’t need to do anything but act like a loving couple and make chitchat. I’ll take care of the agents and I’ll be back before the main course is served.”

“Why didn’t you get Luther and Allison to do this?” Diego asked, giving what he hoped was threatening side eye. “They’d play the part a lot better than we do.”

“Allison would be better, I admit, but Luther scares people. He’s also a worse actor than you two combined,” Five explained, seemingly noticing an abnormality in his hair and going to put it back in its place. “Plus, no one’s gonna question it if you guys aren’t as romantic as they’re expecting. They won’t bring it up because you’re gay, and they don’t know how that works nor do they want to offend you.”

Diego couldn’t argue with that. Klaus sighed and spread himself over all of the backseats, seatbelt abandoned and legs up. Five got so irritated by the misplaced hair that he grabbed the rearview mirror and yanked it so that he could look at himself whilst he fixed it. Diego put his foot down and hoped they’d get there sooner rather than later.

 

* * *

 

 If Five hadn’t notified him, Diego probably would have still known they’d reached their destination by the sheer number of balloons positioned strategically outside. He pulled up on the side of the road only to be alerted by a security guard that there was an underground parking lot they’d need to use, and then they’d had their ID’s checked on the way in. Diego had panicked for a brief moment as he had pulled his own out of his wallet, for two reasons: one, questions would arise if Five was down as ‘Five’, and two, he didn’t know if Klaus even knew where his ID was. Diego himself had had his name legally changed.

But Five seamlessly pulled out what Diego assumed was a fake ID, with his picture and the name ‘Aiden Hargreeves’ printed onto it. Diego wasn’t even sure what it was ID _for_ – he certainly hadn’t had any ID as a 13-year-old boy. Klaus passed his forwards, an arm suddenly stuck out in front of Diego, who took it and showed it to the guard.

“Four Hargreeves?” The guard asked, raising an eyebrow as he wrote on some paper (presumably to tick their name’s off, or at least Five’s). Diego passed the ID back, frowning at Klaus who smiled and shrugged. “Interesting name. ‘M not judging, though. Head on down.”

He pressed a button and the shutter door for the parking lot rolled up. Diego nodded at the guard, pressing on the accelerator and driving down the ramp. Five busied himself putting his own ID away and Diego glanced at Klaus in the mirror, who was humming to himself. “You never legally changed your name?”

“You did?” Klaus asked, eyes wide as he pulled his legs up so that they were crossed. Diego would have been impressed with his flexibility, if he hadn’t seen him in much more compromising positions. “Never thought to bother. Dear old daddy lovingly gave me this name,” he smiled, letting out a long high note with his next breath, “I couldn’t change it!”

Diego shook his head and reversed himself into one of the many, many parking spaces. Diego couldn’t remember a time he’d been anywhere so fancy – not, at least, since they were children and had to attend numerous conferences and soirées. He left the car quickly and watched as Klaus stumbled out of the backseat, nearly falling over in the process. He reached forward and caught the man with one arm, ignoring the smirk he received for it.

“What’s the girl’s name?” Diego asked, releasing Klaus and following Five towards the lift. The parking lot was empty, other than a few scattered cars, and Diego found himself wondering how intimate this party was. “Shouldn’t we at least know that?”

“Elizabeth,” Five hummed on the end of her name, pressing the button for the first floor before Klaus had made it through the doors. Klaus turned on his side to make it through before the door closed and the lift started to move. “She’s thirteen today, a daddy’s girl through–and–through. Her dad dotes on her and he loves her very dearly. As far as she’s aware, you guys are good parents but papa’s a little shy and dad’s a little strange. I told her you can do French plats, Klaus, so she’s looking forward to meeting you.”

“You called me papa,” Diego questioned grumpily, hoping there wasn’t anything left in his tone except distaste. If anyone, he thought Klaus would be ‘papa’ – he’d have loved it.

Five glanced at him, one eyebrow perfectly raised. “It’s dad in Mexican.” He shrugged. “You look Mexican.”

Diego rubbed his hands over his face and tried not to throttle anybody.

 

* * *

 

“You must be Diego and Klaus!” The man approached them jovially, suit done up meticulously and hair slightly greying beneath the black hair dye. Diego glanced across his expression but couldn’t find anything to worry about, and as such did his best to return the smile. If it looked forced, he didn’t mention it and just took Diego’s hand, shaking it once and moving onto Klaus, who was doing a much better job of appearing approachable. “I’m Mark, Elizabeth’s father. She’s talked non–stop about Aiden since they met, so I’m glad to finally meet you all!”

He bent down and shook Five’s hand too, appearing to find it very amusing. Five smiled back and shook it, looking every bit the innocent 13–year–old he was playing. Diego wondered how much he wanted to break Mark’s arm. “We’re just about to start on the starters now. The kid’s table is over this way.”

Mark led them over to a relatively large table, ten seats situated around it, all but one occupied by preteens. Diego was suddenly overwhelmed with gladness that they were being separated – as much as he wasn’t looking forward to spending his evening with only Klaus as a familiar face, he wanted to spend it with kids even less. One of the girls, in a lilac dress and with blonde ringlets tied up into pigtails, looked up and immediately broke out into a grin. “Aidy! You’re here! I saved you a seat!”

That seat, it turned out, was right at her side. Diego exchanged a look with Klaus and tried not to chuckle, suddenly questioning exactly how Five had wormed his way into this exclusive party. The young girl must be Elizabeth.

“We’ll leave them to it, shall we?” Mark whispered to Diego conspiratorially, leading them back over the table where the adults were sat. Diego spared Five a sympathetic glance before patting him on the shoulder and following. Klaus, who had always been more dramatic than him anyway, bent down to kiss him on the cheek before lightly jogging to catch up. “Everyone’s excited to meet you.”

Of all the people at the ‘adults’ table, Klaus and Diego were by far the youngest. It appeared to be composed of the parents of the children, couples who smiled at them as they approached. Diego would have thought it almost creepy if their smiles hadn’t been so genuine. Klaus sat down next to a woman with brown hair and far too much glittery jewellery, launching her into a discussion about current fashion that Diego had absolutely no hopes of keeping up with. He took his seat next to Klaus, on the other side of a rather cheerful looking man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, young man!” He greeted with a rather harsh smack to Diego’s back. He did his best not to wince and smiled, beginning to think that he’d spend all his evening with a plastic smile on his face. “I’m Elizabeth’s grandfather. Lately she’s been talking about your Aiden nonstop! Seems like a lovely boy.”

“Sometimes,” Diego muttered, which earned him a surprised glance. He quickly pulled himself together, reminding himself that Five was supposed to be his son that he loved, and coughed. He hoped it wasn’t too obviously fake. “You know how they are. He’s a little moody at times, but you know…” the fake smile grew, “wouldn’t have it any other way!”

“Ah, of course,” He smiled back, and for a second Diego felt a bit bad for deceiving an old man. But, really, they were there to save his son’s life – so he figured the morals of it cancelled each other out. He just hoped Five wasn’t planning on breaking Elizabeth’s heart too harshly. “I remember how Mark was when he was their age. You must be doing a good job raising him though, especially with you both being so young!”

Klaus, apparently having finished his conversation with the woman, chimed in then. “Aiden’s had a hard life but we’ve done our best with him. My girlfriend got pregnant when we were both very young, you see, and she couldn’t keep him. I was fortunate enough to have a supportive father myself, so I took him on. Diego’s been an absolute star about it – really taken him under his wing.”

Diego would count this as oversharing but figured everyone in the room had already come to a similar conclusion anyway, so he didn’t contend it. He couldn’t tell how Elizabeth’s grandfather took this particular news, but he didn’t show it in his expression. He simply laughed, loud and unapologetic, and patted Diego’s thigh amicably. “Good on you, my boy. We must all take some things in our stride. I’m glad it has made you happy.”

Somewhere, deep down, Diego felt a pang of loss for a life that wasn’t his.

 

* * *

 

  ** _2._ _You leave me frozen in time._**

 

The starters were wheeled out a few minutes after that and Klaus dug in with the vigour of a starving man. The woman he was sat next to looked a little horrified, but her husband laughed and expressed similar feeling. Then came the mains, and Diego was so distracted keeping an eye on Klaus that he almost missed Five leaving the room. He picked up his glass of wine and took a gulp that was probably slightly too large to be appropriate. He ate his main meal slowly, doing his best to case the room without being too obvious. When he looked over and saw Klaus with gravy on his nose, though, he knew something had to be said.

He picked up Klaus’ napkin and reached over to wipe the gravy away, for which he received a pretty astounded look from Klaus. Once it was all gone he folded the napkin up and placed it back at the side of Klaus’ plate before leaning over to whisper into his ear. “We’re guests here and we need to blend in. Eat a little slower and keep smiling, yeah?” When he pulled back Klaus was still staring at him with wide eyes, so he cupped his cheek and glared into his eyes, hoping it got his message across whilst looking loving to everyone else.

It seemed to work because Mark was giving him a soft look when he pulled back. Diego wasn’t used to being looked at like that, and he fought the blush down furiously.

He was halfway through the meal when Elizabeth appeared at their table, tugging on her dad’s sleeve with a sad look on her face. Diego knew that spelt trouble. Mark looked towards her and she huffed, her whole body bobbing slightly as she bent her knees with exasperation. “Daddy, Aiden’s been gone for _ages!_ Won’t his dinner get cold?”

Mark glanced over to the kid’s table and frowned at the empty seat Five had left. “Did he leave before the mains were even brought out? Gosh, he may have gotten lost. Don’t worry, I’ll go look for the boy, you stay here and have fun with your friends.”

Diego tried to throw a worried look Klaus’ way but Klaus was once again engaged in vibrant conversation, arms flying everywhere as he expressed his point. As Mark moved to get up Diego pushed his chair away from the table, wincing at the loud scrape it made against the floor. “That’s okay! He’s my son, I’ll go find him!”

Mark looked confused for a second but he quickly schooled his expression and sat back down. “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit Diego.”

Klaus looked at him questioningly but he just walked away, hoping Klaus knew better than to cause trouble while he was gone. He found himself in an empty hallway once he’d left the room, the only sound being the muffled voices from the party he’d just left. Diego felt the cogs of his brain reorganise themselves so that he was back in the right headspace, leaning over to procure one of his knives from where he’d hidden it in his boot. He moved past several of the other doors along the hallway, shutting his eyes briefly to listen into them as best as he could, but he knew that if Five was on the job there’d be more than a little noise for him to listen for.

None of the doors on that hallway gave him any luck so he jogged up the staircase at the end, two steps at a time. He was hoping that he wouldn’t encounter any security guards, because if he did it’d be difficult to hide or explain the knife he was holding, but he was also constantly aware of the possibility. Now, up a flight of stairs, he could hear some banging coming from a room further down the hallway. He approached quickly, the noise rapidly growing as he did so, and pushed the door open slightly.

He narrowly missed a bullet from inside the room and quickly slammed the door shut, heart beating rapidly. The bullet had buried itself into the opposite wall and Diego hoped they’d be out of this place before anybody was around to notice it. More importantly, there was a high-pitched shriek from next to him that would give anybody away.

“Klaus!” Diego frantically put his hand over Klaus’ mouth, pushing him back against the wall more harshly than he’d intended to. Klaus’ back collided with a thump and he stared at Diego, for a second with that same shocked expression he’d had earlier. Then, his eyes narrowed, and Diego cried out as teeth sunk into his palm. “ _Fuck!_ ”

“Your hands smell funny,” Klaus commented absently, still glaring at Diego. Diego watched him, wide eyed, hand curled into his chest, and let out a whiny noise that he would deny ever making later. “What’s _happening_ in there?”

“Seems like–” Diego’s voice came out higher than expected, and he coughed before continuing at his normal pitch, “Seems like Five is having more trouble with these agents than we anticipated.”

“I’ll go in with you,” Klaus said resolutely, stature hard and determined. Diego shook his head.

“You stay out here.” Klaus pouted and Diego tried to soften his expression, hoping for all it was worth that Klaus could see this wasn’t him being belittled. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Klaus.”

Klaus didn’t respond so Diego leant back against the door again, hand going to the door knob. He opened it, a little slower this time. Once the door was open enough he slipped through the gap and threw his knife at the first moving adult he saw.

Said moving adult screamed in pain and turned his eyes onto Diego, but before he could do anything Five had appeared next to Diego, snatching another knife from his pocket and then teleporting behind the same person, ramming it into their back. They dropped the gun before anything else and fell to the ground. Diego noted the other person in the room and charged towards the bar, ducking behind it.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Five yelled, teleporting behind the bar himself and giving Diego such a fierce look that anybody would think Diego _hadn’t_ just helped him out. Diego returned the glare and then brought his arms up to cover his head as a gunshot caused one of the glasses above them to shatter. The shards rained down and Diego winced as one of them pierced his skin. Five groaned. “Get back to the party! I’ve got this sorted!”

“Elizabeth started to wonder when you’d disappeared to!” Diego practically hissed, bringing his arms back down. Five looked like her was being tortured as he threw his head back, groaning even louder. “We’re kind of pushed for time here!”

“Okay, just stay here, I’ll sort it.” Five snapped, and then once again he was gone. Diego pressed his back against the bar and tried to keep track of what was happening, but there was only so much he could do when he couldn’t see what was happening. Eventually Five popped back, grabbed another knife and disappeared again. Diego would have complained if he’d been given a second to do so, and then his own knife hit the ground a while away from his position with a clatter. He didn’t scream. He’d been in far too many stressful situations to scream.

“Damn Diego, you sound like a baby,” Five was back again, teeth on full display. Diego hit his shoulder, lightly just in case, because Five’s knee was bleeding. He was lucky he’d worn his normal shorts despite the costume change; Diego had seen his fair share of bullet wounds and the worst were always where clothes were involved. “Gimme another knife.”

“That was my last one!” Diego scowled. Five had rejected the idea to wear his harness, even underneath his ordinary clothing, so Diego was running severely low on hiding spots. “Maybe if you were better at  _throwing_ –”

A gunshot rang out, once again close to Diego’s position, and Five popped back out of existence.

The door suddenly creaked open and Diego locked eyes with Klaus, who was mouthing something and pointing towards the center of the room. Diego shook his head frantically, waving a hand to try and get him to leave. Klaus mouthed ‘I’m coming in’, and then he was, swinging the door wide open with such reckless abandon that Diego could only place his head in his hands and try not to cry.

Klaus tried to make the run across to the bar but he wasn’t fast enough. The remaining man (because Diego could finally get a good look at him now, much to his chagrin) caught Klaus by the neck and yanked him backwards, holding the gun to his head with a smirk. Klaus fumbled with the arm but he’d never been one for physical prowess, and after a couple of seconds he stopped struggling.

“See, now we’re at a deadlock.” The man pressed the gun harder into Klaus’ head, as if to prove his point, and Klaus let out a noise of dissent. Diego couldn’t see Five from his position, but he could guess the boy had stopped somewhere across the room from them. “What are you gonna do now, huh, Five?”

“Not sure you wanna do that, my friend,” Five’s voice replied, and Diego could almost imagine him with his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Klaus has, like, no boundaries. He’ll probably bite you or some shit.”

The man shrugged, although he did press his arm into Klaus’ chin a little more harshly. Klaus looked like he was close to kicking the man right where the sun doesn’t shine, but Diego knew it was a bad idea. This guy was a professional, they all were – one wrong move and he wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

The man replied with something else, but Diego did his best to tune it out. He zeroed in on the knife that was still lying on the floor, a couple feet away from him, and sighed. If this was going to get him shot – well, at least he tried.

Without a proper run up (he was more throwing himself forward, if he were honest) Diego couldn’t get much momentum, but he hoped it’d be enough. Within the next second he was sliding across the floor, arm out and at the ready. The man turned to him, surprised but prepared, but by then it was too late. Diego grabbed the knife and swung, hard as he could, straight towards the man’s gun arm.

“Ah, _fuck!_ ” The gun went flying as the knife embedded itself into his shoulder. Klaus immediately started to struggle but he stopped when something else, equally incredible happened. Tentacles wrapped around the man’s neck and they must have squeezed hard, because his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body dropped to the ground, Klaus just managing to untangle himself before he was brought down with it.

There was a second where nobody seemed to know what to say, and then Klaus let out a gleeful noise, dragging Ben into a hug. The tentacles had already retracted by then, thankfully, and Ben returned it happily. “Dude, that was badass! We’re getting so _good_ at this! Come on, gimme five, up top!” Klaus pulled back and he smacked his hand harshly against Ben’s with a resonating slap.

Diego let his head hit the ground, a guttural noise leaving his own throat as he let the exhaustion overtake him. For a moment there, he’d genuinely thought Klaus might not come out of it alive, and he was surprised by how much the thought had hurt. He should have known better than to underestimate his brother.

Five stood over him then, offering him a hand, and Diego took it gratefully. Once he was back on his feet Klaus turned on him, still with a smug grin on his face. “And you saved my life Diego! You tried to sacrifice yourself for me!”

“I’m not sure that’s how it would have worked,” Diego countered, and then grabbed Klaus by his skinny waist before his arms could wrap around him as well. “Um, no, I’m not a hugger.”

“You don’t get to refuse hugs from me, that’s not how it works.” Klaus jabbed his fingers into Diego’s sides and he bent over, a breath of surprise leaving him. Before he could protest further Klaus’ arms were around him, and he couldn’t even find reason to mind.

 

* * *

 

_**3\. Everglow** _

**_You’ll never know_ **

**_The beauty I see when you open your shadows_ **

 

Five had quickly brought their attention to the fact that they needed to return to the party, and then Diego had quickly brought _his_ attention to the fact that people would very much question it if ‘Aiden’ returned with a bullet wound on his knee. Five had, apparently, not noticed the wound up until that point and treated it as a minor inconvenience. Klaus insisted they sort it and they found themselves in the bathroom downstairs, with Diego pouring way too expensive liquor over the graze as Klaus prepared a dinosaur dressing that he, apparently, carried everywhere with him.

When Diego had asked, Klaus had shrugged and said “in case of emergencies.”

It was an inadequate solution but it’d have to do, at least for the time being. Five spent the whole time whining about how he’d been through much worse, but he was also clinging onto Diego’s shoulders like he was his only lifeline all the way. It felt domestic, as Five pretended it didn’t sting like hell and Klaus assured him that they all thought he was a very brave boy.

The door opened with a ridiculously loud creak and Diego frantically dropped the whisky bottle into the dustbin, Klaus also freezing midway through applying the bandage. Elizabeth’s grandfather stood in the doorway, face shocked as he took in the scene.

“We, uh,” Diego started, and found himself unable to finish the sentence. Five probably would have, had he been in less pain, but as it was he was barely holding on to consciousness.

“We found him upstairs,” Klaus carried on for him, smiling at the man like he was an old friend. “He’d tripped and fallen, was curled up into a ball crying. Really bad graze on his knee. We’re just fixing it up now!”

“Oh,” the old man paused, shook his head, and then smiled. “Oh, of course! Ah, young men are always doing silly things like that, tiny feet running them straight into trouble!”

Diego laughed and agreed. He went to scratch the back of his neck, a bad habit from when he’d been nervous in interviews as a child, but soon realised that would knock Five off balance as he started to sway forward. Diego brought his hands back up, catching him by the shoulders, as Klaus gently finished applying the dressing. Diego was only thankful the man hadn’t looked closely enough to see that the bleeding was far too bad to be from a fall.

“He’s lucky you were there to pick him back up onto his feet,” he suddenly began, placing one hand on Klaus’ shoulder. Klaus startled, having always been uneasy, but something in the old man’s eyes must have calmed him because he settled pretty quickly. “Look, boys, I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t… somewhat sceptical of same–sex parenthood. But, seeing you two love this boy like this,” he glanced over to Diego, who could feel his cheeks steadily reddening, “well, it restores my hope in the next generations, shall we say.”

“I– I’m glad,” Diego stuttered out. The look Klaus sent him was nothing short of enraptured – he looked like the cat who’d got the cream. Diego wanted to warn him never to bring it up again, but he knew Klaus would never listen. “Well, we’ll, um… We’ll get him back to the party!”

“Ah yes, Elizabeth will be glad to see he’s safe!” He chuckled, moving towards the urinals. Diego would ordinarily have dumped Five onto the floor to find his own footing, but his brother was still dozing off against the sink and it’d look strange if Diego just left him to it. So he lifted Five up gently, doing his best to ignore Klaus who was about to burst into laughter, and put him back onto his feet with the amount of care he thought befitting of a parent.

Five shook his head, as if to clear his mind, and didn’t ask any questions when Diego took his hand to lead him out. He didn’t even question it when Klaus took his other hand, something that Diego himself was definitely questioning, but they simply guided him back to the party. Diego hadn’t really been keeping avid track of time, but he knew plenty of it must have passed given that the dessert plates were being taken away and the kids were crowding one of the boys as he was spun around, blindfold firmly in place as he geared up to take a swing at a piñata.

Elizabeth spun around to see who’d entered the room and her face lit up as they walked in. “Aiden! You were gone for so long, you missed your swing and the cake! Here, you can go after George.”

Five still looked a little confused but he approached her willingly. Klaus placed a hand over his heart mockingly, muttering “young love” in Diego’s direction, and Diego snorted. He thought back to what that old man had said and couldn’t help thinking, _yeah, we would make a good family huh?_

But Five was still a brat, and that was only confirmed when he took the bat and hit the piñata with such force that the poor thing shattered into, like, sixty pieces. Elizabeth didn’t seem to mind, happily joining in with the other kids as they raced towards the falling candy mindlessly. Five looked all too pleased with himself.

“He’s got quite the swing on him, your lad!” Mark chuckled, approaching Klaus and Diego like it was the most natural thing ever. Like they weren’t freaks, in his eyes. Earth shatteringly, here, they _were_ normal – Diego, Klaus and Aiden, a little eccentric but a normal family all the same. “Where’d he get off to in the end?”

“Fell over upstairs,” Diego answered this time, eyes not leaving the scene as Elizabeth handed Five a drumstick. Five looked at it like it was alien for a second, and then tentatively took it, offering what looked to be a thanks. “Grazed his knee pretty bad, we were just cleaning it up.”

“Oh yes, I see the bandage now. You carry those around for him?” Mark was nice. Diego hadn’t met many unapologetically nice rich people. Not many unapologetically nice people at all, really. It wasn’t an unwelcome change.

“We told him they had magic in them when he was a kid,” Klaus explained, apparently coming up with the story off the top of his head. Diego turned his head to listen and felt the idea wash over him like an unstoppable wave: _he’s really amazing, isn’t he?_ “Obviously he doesn’t think it now, but he still likes to use them.”

Mark’s smile softened and he nodded, turning back in comfortable silence. Five had unwrapped the drumstick and was trying to chew on it, but he seemed to be having trouble. Elizabeth was laughing at him giddily. “Well, I’d best go and speak to Susan – her boy, Jonathan, has some allergies and we didn’t want him to miss out on cake, you see. Speaking of, feel free to grab some for yourselves. We’ll make sure Aiden gets some at the end of the night too, hmm?”

Mark moved away and Diego did his best to think about anything other than the way Klaus was looking at him. His aversion must have been obvious, because Klaus’ face split into a grin and he slapped Diego’s bum so hard that Diego could barely contain a squeal. Klaus chuckled, taking Diego’s hand to lead him off. “From your nonchalance, dear Diego, one might presume that you hadn’t just been told there’s _cake_ waiting for you.”

“Never been that fond, to be honest.” Diego did his best to remain unmoved, but he also didn’t want to do anything to make Klaus drop his hand. “The icing’s always too sweet.”

“You’re a monster and I’ll never look at you the same way,” Klaus kept moving and squeezed Diego’s hand a little tighter. “Nevermind, all the more for me.”

 

* * *

 

Diego did have some cake, in the end, but it was only the corner of a piece. He’d made a face at the nauseating strength of the strawberry flavouring and Klaus had sighed, taking it from Diego’s grasp and declaring Diego horrible for making him eat two pieces of cake in one day. Diego had fought down a smile.

Five was just about done with the whole ordeal and it showed. Having finally sobered up a little he’d spent at least fifteen minutes trying to simultaneously escape Elizabeth’s clutches and appease her. Diego knew they really ought to go over and make their excuses, and he would have done, really, if the music hadn’t suddenly gotten five times louder and much cheesier. Klaus’s face lit up as the beginning notes to ‘Livin La Vida Loca’ came over the sound system, and he instantly grabbed Diego by both shoulders.

“Dance with me.” He demanded.

“I don’t dance,” Diego took a hold of Klaus’ hands and tried to pry them off. Surprisingly, they held firm.

“Humour me,” Klaus smirked, and then he was dragging Diego by the hand again. Diego felt stupid, joining a bunch of kids on the dance floor, but some of the parents were up as well and he tried to quell his embarrassment in favour of helping Klaus maintain that look in his eyes.

The thing is, Diego _does_ dance, not that he ever did it in front of other people. But Klaus was already spinning around like a mad man and giving Diego looks that were entirely too distracting, so Diego allowed himself to loosen up a little just this once. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but somehow it felt okay.

There were a few more songs like that, and then ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’ came on. If Diego had been out of his element before, he certainly was now. It must have showed, because before he could leave the dance floor Klaus had grabbed him by the waist, using his free hand to take a hold of Diego’s. Diego looked up to meet his eyes, a little startled, and Klaus took his hand off his waist for just long enough to push Diego’s arm up to his shoulder, before settling back to his waist.

“Relax,” Klaus was so close to Diego’s ear that he only muttered it under his breath. Diego inhaled sharply, hand tightening in Klaus’. “Just follow my lead. You don’t have to do anything else, for now.”

Klaus started to move, and Diego moved with him. Then they were swaying, and Diego flushed with the realisation that Klaus was _leading._ But if people were watching them (they were, Diego could feel it) they were doing so discretely, and even then, only in bouts. So he let Klaus carry him around the dancefloor, this little safe haven they’d found for themselves. Klaus, at one point, took his hand and twirled him around, making Diego a little unsteady for a second before Klaus caught him again, returning them to swaying as if it had never happened and he was totally innocent. Diego ducked his head to hide the quirk in his lips.

He felt a sharp tug on his sleeve and stumbled, straight onto Klaus’ foot. Klaus winced and Diego found himself furiously apologising, hands coming up to wave in front of his face, as if to display some kind of covert meaning. He looked down to see Five, expression unamused, arms crossed. A brief glance told him that Elizabeth was distracted, laughing as her dad twirled her around.

“Much as I’ve enjoyed watching you two bond, I think we’re about done here.” Five declared petulantly, lips even rising into a slight pout. Diego looked to Klaus who shrugged, releasing Diego entirely from his hold.

“Alright, but we should say night first, since they’ve offered us such hospitality!” Klaus looked altogether too cheerful for someone who’d just been stomped on mercilessly. Five’s expression smoothed down into indifference, appeased. Klaus was off before either of them could prepare for it and they were left to follow, joining in the conversation between him and Mark.

“–Ah, well it’s been lovely having you!” Mark turned to Diego and shook his hand, echoing their introduction earlier that night. “And a pleasure to meet you, Diego!”

“Likewise,” Diego responded, and he was surprised to realise he meant it. Five was offered a slice of cake on a napkin, which he took with a smile that Diego reckoned was forced, given that he immediately grimaced when Elizabeth pulled him into a fierce hug.

“Don’t be strangers!” Mark proclaimed as they turned to leave, pulling Elizabeth close to him by her shoulder.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Klaus proclaimed back, voice just a little too loud in a way that Diego found too charming.

Five looked like he was going to throw up and Diego was suddenly having the time of his life.

 

* * *

 

They were halfway back to the academy, which had gradually begun to feel like home again for the six of them (seven, if you counted Ben, which Diego probably would) when Klaus had screamed for them to stop the car and Diego had nearly swerved in a kneejerk reaction. Thankfully he hadn’t, and had instead pulled up on the side of the road.

“Pee break,” Klaus had cheerfully declared, and then promptly jumped out of the car where a conveniently placed McDonald’s lay waiting for him.

Diego leaned forwards to rest his forehead on the steering wheel and let out a long–suffered moan. Five didn’t respond to that, which Diego figured was probably the best course of action to take, and he simply put his feet up on the dashboard in a blatant show of disrespect for Diego and for his poor car.

“If you’re gonna miss your chance, by the way, then you’re an idiot.” Five commented after a few minutes, and Diego let out another sigh.

“We are not having this conversation,” he used what he hoped was an assertive tone and leaned back against the seat again, reaching into his pocket to pull out a breath mint. He didn’t like the taste but chewing helped to calm his nerves and thereby prevent his stutter, so he suffered through it. It was better than chewing gum, which he’d almost choked on as a child and wouldn’t touch again.

“I don’t want to be sat here, with you, lecturing you on the merits of pursuing your crush who likes you back, by the way, in case you’re too dense to notice,” Five was practically humming, crossing and uncrossing his legs.

Diego leaned forward again, this time to swivel his body towards the passenger seat, and pressed his index finger up against Five’s chest. “You,” he moved his hand and used his thumb to point towards himself, “and I are _not_ having this conversation. You’re like, twelve, and you’ve committed a lot of crimes. Your opinion doesn’t count, especially where my love life is concerned.”

There was silence, and then suddenly: “Look, if you _want_ to pretend you’re stupid–”

“Oh my God,” Diego yanked on the door handle and pushed the door open, climbing out before he could think twice about it. He took a deep breath of fresh air and slammed the door closed, reveling in the satisfying noise it made. Trying not to think too much about it, he strode off towards the McDonald’s and watched as Klaus came out of the door. He was carrying a small brown bag, and he grinned when he saw Diego coming towards him.

“Guess who got us muffins–” Klaus began, but he was cut off when Diego grabbed his face in both hands. Klaus made a noise, one Diego decided he liked, and he didn’t think twice before leaning in to kiss him.

He’s pretty sure that they got wolf whistled at by some teenagers walking by but he didn’t care, because Klaus’ mouth was on his and it was moving, and he was kissing back, so he considered the whole endeavor a success. Klaus’ arms came up and around Diego’s neck, deepening the kiss, muffins long forgotten on the floor.

“What brought this on?” Klaus asked against Diego’s lips, eyes shut and forehead resting against his, arms still wrapped around him tightly.

“Let’s call it intuition,” Diego answered, leaning forward to kiss him again before pulling away entirely. He reached down to grab the muffins and started back towards the car, completely aware that Five probably watched it all unfold and was wearing a smug smirk, but he told himself not to worry about it.

Klaus snatched the bag back and Diego raised an eyebrow at him, unable to feel annoyed with the way Klaus was smiling. “I paid, I get dibs on the muffins.” Then he opened the car door and practically launched himself inside.

Diego shook his head fondly and got back into the driver’s seat, choosing not to look at Five on principle. He had already started to drive when Klaus’ hand reached towards him from the back, holding out a chocolate muffin. “You don’t like anything sweet, but I know for a fact that you like chocolate. Don’t you dare lie to me, Diego!”

Diego took the muffin and placed it in his lap where he could take advantage of it as soon as they were on a long, straight road. “Thanks, Klaus.”

“Hey, where’s my muffin?” Five asked indignantly.

“You have cake,” Klaus mumbled, presumably around a mouth full of muffin. Five huffed, leaning back against the seat in irritation, and Diego figured he was the luckiest man in the world.

 

 _**Everglow** _  
_**They'll never know** _  
_**The worlds that I see in the darkness you don't show** _

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I realised half way through this that I was describing the teenagers almost like toddlers, which obviously wasn’t what I was attempting to do. I think it’s at it’s worst in the bathroom scene, but I like to think I can take some leniencies with that since Five is a little out of it, and we know they can carry him pretty easily.  
> I hope you liked it! Please let me know if you did, this is one of the first things I’ve written in a while and I owe it to this pairing for making me envision this so boldly that I just had to write it down. It’s way longer than I ever thought I’d manage, so there’s probably lots of mistakes. Let me know about those too! Thanks for reading :)


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